Tardiness
by Kasumi-Anko
Summary: (Rated T for Dark Themes, Suicide and Character Death) '...I will never forget that day. That day I went home and cried for hours. Clutching a pillow to my chest, staring at my ceiling through blurry, tear-filled eyes. Eyes that had seen much more then I


_**Tardiness**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.**_

_**The is just a little thing I wrote while I was bored, hope you enjoy.**_

I will never forget that day. That day I went home and cried for hours. Clutching a pillow to my chest, staring at my ceiling through blurry, tear-filled eyes. Eyes that had seen much more then I wanted them to. The same eyes that took in images that had led to me to my current depression.

Why was I always so stubborn to deny my own feelings? Perhaps years of pawing after Uchiha Sasuke blinded me of reality. So it must be his fault.

Who am I kidding; it's entirely my fault. I should have let out my feelings the moment I realized them. But no. I was too much of an idiot. What was I trying to accomplish by keeping all these feelings in! Now my chances are ruined.

I rolled over, my hand wiping away stray tears running down my face. A ran a hand through my hair as I closed my sore, irritated eyes. Images floated back to my mind. Pictures I wanted to forget, to burn out of my mind. As I sit up, my eyes snapping open again, my body wracking with sobs again. I clutch to my pillow again as I allow myself to fall back onto my bed, my head hitting the headboard. Cursing, I rubbed my head with my hand. The tender skin tingled with my touch and I pulled my hand away, swinging my legs out of bed. Standing up and walking to my window, the sun almost blinded me further.

I turned my head away, and my eyes fell on a picture. With all the strength I had, I picked up the frame, and then in a sudden burst of hurt, slammed it as hard as I could against my window. As both glass objects shattered, pieces of glass laying about my feet, some slicing my skin as I stood lamely, staring out the window, standing feet away from it. Walking across the floor, cutting my feet-not that I really noticed-and leaning on the broken window frame. My punctured skin burning in both anger and pain. I looked out at the yawn, the picture stuck into the ground, giving me a perfect view of it.

Angrily, I turned away from the window, bent down to the ground, picking up a sharp piece of glass, pricking my finger. With a swift motion, I let the blood drop to the lawn, watching it run down the picture. Over her face, sliding down along her neck, down her arm, sliding right of her arm like it was meant to do that. Dripping a few drops so that they landed on the face of the other occupant of the picture.

With a frown, I walked into the bathroom, looking at my cut skin. Within a few moments, I sat in the bathtub, soothing water filling it, as I lay motionless, wincing as the hot liquid met the crimson blood running from my self-induced injuries. Mixing with the water and soon disappearing, the blood kept coming, seeming to be attracted to the water. When I closed my eyes, the day replayed itself right behind my eyelids.

_FLASHBACK_

Skipping down the road, I felt…overjoyed. I had finally convinced myself of my feelings. I was currently on my way to letting him know. Him being the love of my life. The love of my life being no one other then the lazy genius himself, Nara Shikamaru.

As I approached his house, butterflies filling my stomach, a slowed down. 'Was I sure'? 'Did I know what I was doing'? After convincing myself all was well, I knocked three times on the door. Upon no answer, I knocked a few more times.

'He's probably sleeping. Lord knows he sleeps more then the average person should…' I thought to myself and opening the door slightly. Calling out his name as I slipped into his house. As I neared the stairs, I heard the light breathing of a sleeping person. With a smile, I started to climb the stairs. But as I got closer, the noise changed. From the sound of one person sleeping, to multiple people sleeping.

I frowned and stepped into his doorway, peeking through the light gap in the door. With a gasp, my eyes went wide, my heart stopped and sank. I stepped back, leaning against the wall, gripping it for dear life. Tears sprang to my eyes and I knew I was too late.

Inside the room, lay my should-be lover, arms and legs tangled with those of a certain sand-nin. Her head rested on his chest, they both lay, sleeping soundly in his bed.

I felt like I would throw up.

_End FLASHBACK_

Upon remembering the event, I felt sick again, crossing my arms over my chest. Looking around the room, seeing shards of glass stuck into my clothes. Reaching over and rummaging for a large piece, I found one-right after it cut my finger-and held it to my wrist. The cold blade-like matter felt odd against my skin, but I bit my lip and slid it in a pressured motion across the flat surface. Biting my lip to stop from screaming, I ripped the skin on both my lip and my wrist. As blood pumped out from the newly done wound, I felt the tips of my fingers go numb, the colour almost instantly draining from them. Pain replacing by burning as I switched the glass to the other hand, doing the same. Holding out both my wrists as crimson regret poured into the water. Holding the glass, my hand shaking as I made three more cuts to each arm, more blood spilling out. I began to feel a bit drowsy as I made my fifth incision on my left arm. My skin crawled and my head dipped, lowering myself deeper into the now red-translucent water. My wrists fell beside me, under the water, bursting into what seemed like fire. As I sank deeper into the water, my eyelids feeling heavy, my chin now sitting on the surface.

In moments, I felt myself being lifted up out of the water. A panicked voice tried to get me to give them a sign I was alive. I tired to open my eyes, I tried to speak, but my senses just ignored my requests. I slowly raised a bleeding arm to try to show I was alive, soon after, I opened one eye. A blurry, dark figure stood above me, they had pulled me from the water. They saw my signal, I heard a sigh and they placed a towel over my body. I strained my eye to see who it was. Realization rolled over me and I tried to pull away.

"Shi…ka…ma...ru..." I whispered and turned my head away slightly.

"What?" he whispered back, tucking a folded towel under my head like a pillow. How could he be so sweet and not even know how much he broke my heart.

"Why are you here?" I asked quietly.

"I was passing by and decided to drop by, when there was no reply, I knew something was wrong.. And I found this," he said, holding out the picture I had just previously thrown out. Tears came to my eyes again. "Were you angry at me?" he asked softly.

"No. I was angry at myself. For not telling you," I replied, closing my eyes, breathing hitching a few times.

"Telling me what?" he asked, confused.

"How a feel…" I started. "I know you probably don't care, but I love you, Shika, I have for awhile.." I said, choking slightly as my body shook with sobs.

"Why didn't you tell me this? Why would you do this?" he asked motioning around the bathroom, major concern in his voice.

I looked up at him, tears in my eyes. "I don't know, I was stupid, okay?" I said, quieter again as I felt slightly drowsy again.

"Your not stupid. You do stupid things and make stupid decisions…but you are a fine person. Your beautiful, over-powering, fun to be with, a bit bossy at times, but we are all like that sometimes," he said, smiling nervously, laughing slightly, as if trying to make everything okay. His eyes told a different story.

Tears ran down my face as I could hardly keep my eyes open. "I'm sorry, Shikamaru, I really am. I love you," I whispered, my voice cracking with sobs.

He shushed me, I felt myself being lifted up, into his arms as he pulled me closer. "No. Everything will be fine, okay? Just hold in there," he said, voice wavering. He stroaked my hair as my breath came short again and the world went black. The last thing I could hear was four whispered words from Shikamaru.

"I love you, Ino,"

_**Well now, wasn't that sweet? It was hard to write, but it was fun.**_

_**And about the whole Temari/Shika thing. I dunno. It was a fling, or something. XD**_

_**Anyways, hope you liked it!**_


End file.
